Arthur Schlesinger once said that more wars have been fought between groups speaking different languages than between groups with religious differences. And that makes sense: the inability to effectively communicate.

Well I don't agree with that statement, since religion effects one's state of consciousness. People make their choices , decisions, and problem , when they based it on morality which is based on an ideology.

If their is a communication barrier, and there is understanding, compassion combined with reason and logic. Quarrels can easily be solved with the understanding that there is a communication barrier and more effort needs to made that opposing people would understand. Using imagery such as pictures, glyphs and symbols is the best way to communicate when language and text is complicated and different from each other from opposing cultures.

Belief in religion tends to cloud the conscious thought and references of morals are attached to text and doctrine from holy books as guidelines, where logic, reason, compassion and understanding.

Wars are more typically over border disputes, battling for access to resources, and other matters having little or nothing to do with religion. Even in the case of Hitler's genocide of the Jews, their religion was a Maguffin. He was equally opposed to gypsies. Judaism may have defined the Jews as a target, but he was opposed to them for quasi-racial reasons, not religious reasons.

@Unseen I have to at least partly agree with your 'different languages' argument. However, doesn't that take it back to religion again? After all, wasn't it god who 'did there [Babel] confound the language of all the Earth'? ;-)

Most wars are over land, resources, perceived injustices or slights. While the countries or groups involved may follow different religions, something else is what most of these wars are really about. Even the current conflicts in the Middle East between Sunni and Shia aren't so much about the fine points of Islam but are about the treatment of the Shia by the Sunni over the years.